The whole idea of this section was created to explain to you why an inmate is place on a specific security
level. Many people who have loved ones in prison may have heard them say that they are minimum security
or medium security, etc.. We wanted to show you this because an inmate's security level affects the amount of
"good time" an inmate receives each month. If he is minimum security then he will get more good days a
month than someone who is place on maximum security. Some people have loved ones who are sent all the
way across the state and wonder why this has happened. Hopefully, this section will explain some of your
questions on these matters. We know a lot of people are interested in their loved one getting "good days" so
they can get back home a little quicker. The following will explain how we obtain those good days.

Classification is the designation of each inmate as he is entered into the Tennessee Department of
Correction's System/ Every inmate must go through a classification process before he is sent to his parent
institution. The idea of this is that while in classification, the state will be able to assess each inmate's medical
needs, educational requirements and security restrictions. When an inmate has passed through his initial
classification process and is sent to their parent institution, they will be reclassed after a four month period and
then will not be reclassed again until their annual reclass, which is usually during the inmate's birthday month.
From what I can tell, they usually end up around the general area from which they were convicted, or closest
to his or her home. From there it appears to be based on the inmate's behavior or bed space available. In
some cases, where they send you is used as a form of punishment. It may sound strange, but the idea of this is
so the Department of Corrections can move you further away from your friends and family. The principle of
this idea is to divide and conquer.

The inmates then go through a regular reclassification process which will determine whether or not the
inmate will be placed on minimum, medium, close or maximum custody. The determining factors are based on
the inmate's current charge, his institutional behavior, escape history and any detainers or prior criminal
convictions.

Below we have created a replica of a regular reclassification sheet used to determine an inmate's custody
level. It shows the score ranges that determine what custody an inmate will be placed in. Of course the
ultimate decision here is left up to the warden of the respective institution. I have seen inmates with enough
points to be place on maximum security who are housed in medium security prisons, and have also seen other
people who should have been on minimum security that ended up being place on close security, which is
called an override. I should mention that this is not an everyday occurrence, but it does happen.

This is the copy of the Regular Classification sheet.

Reclassification Custody Assessment Form

The difference between an inmate who is minimum custody and one who is close or medium custody is that
the inmate who is minimum custody is allowed more "good time" a month and a small degree of movement
within the institution. The security classifications go in the order as follows from the least amount of security
needed to the most amount of security available, in relation to the amount of "good days", or sentence
reduction credits that are allowed while the said inmate is classified to a particular custody level:

CUSTODY LEVEL SENTENCE CREDITS

Minimum Trustee 16 days

Minimum Direct 16 days

Minimum Restricted 16 days

Medium 12 days

Close 6 days

Maximum 0 Days

Death Row **********

The good days mentioned above are the maximum amount allowed per month for an inmate's behavior in
the institution and program or job participation. If an inmate has no disciplinaries within the time frame for that
month and participates in a job or school program, then he is allowed the maximum amount of good days for
his security designation.

This section has been designed to provide the reader with a more in depth mean of understanding the way an
inmate's sentence will be calculated by the Department of Correction. The Department of Corrections uses a
"Time Sheet" to in for the inmate of his current sentence status, such as, jail time, good time and expiration date.
We understand that many inmates send their time sheets home to their family for safe keeping so they are not lost,
and so that the family members are kept informed as well. Many times family members have no idea what to
make of the information that is contained on these time sheets. Therefore, we have provided you with a guide to
understanding the time sheet.

TIME SHEETS

The offender time sheet was introduced into the Tennessee Department of Corrections in 1992. Below is an
exact replica of an inmate's time sheet. We provided this for you so that you could have a tangible object to view
in the case that you have never seen one.

TOMIS ID: The Tomis ID shows the facility at which an inmate is currently being housed. This will only be
changed if an inmate is transferred to another institution.

UNIT ID: The Unit ID shows the location of the inmate within the institution that he is currently housed in, by
pod/unit, cell location and the designation of what bunk the inmate sleeps on within that cell.

SUMMARY CURRENT RELEASE DATA: Reflects the overall structure of the inmate's current
sentence(s). The date is based on the longest sentence served.

SENTENCE EFFECTIVE DATE: the date at which the inmate's time started counting toward their sentence.
I should reflect any jail credit that an inmate should have received. Note: The date may be earlier depending if
the court gave you credit for the time you served while awaiting trial.

RELEASE ELIGIBILITY DATE: Better known as a RED date. This is the earliest possible date at which
an inmate can be considered for release. This date can be reduced by the inmate earning "good time", or
sentence credits/

PRESUMED PROBATIONARY PAROLE DATE: The date is no longer in use.

PRESUMED REGULAR PAROLE DATE: The date shows the amount of time an inmate must serve in
years and months before being considered for parole. This date can be reduced by the inmate earning sentence
reduction credits.

MANDATORY PAROLE DATE: This date only applies to certain cases.

EXPIRATION DATE: This date shows the amount of time an inmate will have to do to complete a sentence.
Better known as "flattening". This date can decrease with any "good time" an inmate earns while incarcerated.

FULL EXPIRATION DATE: This date shows the amount of time an inmate would have to served if he
earned no "good time" during the time he is incarcerated.

TOTAL MAXIMUM SENTENCE: This date shows the longest possible sentence or the total of consecutive
sentences.

TOTAL MINIMUM SENTENCE: This applies to intermediate sentences only.

OUT TO COURT: A yes (y) indicates that an inmate has additional sentences that have not been processed
yet.

The information on the bottom half of the time sheet refers to the offender's sentence structure. Each
additional offense is stated one after the other. The following is an explanation of such.

COUNTY/JURISDICTION: This shows the county in which the offender was sentenced.

YR: This shows the year in which the offender was sentenced.

CASE#: This is the case number that the court assigned the inmate while going through the process of getting his
time.

COUNT: This is the count number in a case or how many charges the inmate has.

OFFENSE: The offense that the inmate was sent to prison for.

OFFENSE DATE: The date on which the crime was committed.

WAIVER DATE: This is the date on which the offender signed a waiver.

SID: Sentence Imposed Date. This is the date given to the offender by the judge.

BOP DATE: Board of Paroles date. This is the date on which the Board of Parole orders the inmate to
beginning serving time for a parole violation.

CUSTODIAL PAROLE: This is the date on which an inmate is paroled from one sentence to another.

CONVICTION CLASS: Shows the class of felony for which the inmate was convicted for. Ranges from a
class A-E (reform act 1194)

SENTENCE LAW: This shows the law which was applied to the case at hand.

LIFE/DEATH/HABITUAL: This is marked with the appropriate letter as pertains to your case.

RANGE/PERCENT: This shows the percentage of time that an inmate must complete before he is eligible for
parole. This does not mean that he will get out, only that hie is eligible.

BEHAVIOR: The amount of behavior credits that the inmate earned as of the date of issue.

PROGRAM: The amount of program credits that the inmate earned as the of the date of issue.

PRETRIAL JAIL: The amount of good time that an inmate received while sitting in jail awaiting the conviction.
An inmate is eligible to receive up to eight days of good time for every month that he was confined in the jail.

PPSC CREDITS: Credits that have been awarded the date of print.

DEAD TIME: This shows the time that has been spent out on bond, escape, etc. This dime does not count as
being served and is only added to the inmate's release eligibility date, expiration date and full expiration date.

DELINQUENT TIME: This time starts counting from the time an inmate's parole was violated. It is applied
the same way Dead Time is applied.

STREET TIME: This time is applied to the time spent on the probation or parole. If lost it will apply like
Dead Time.

DISCIPLINARY TIME: This shows the extension of time that is added to an offender's Release Eligibility
Date or parole either for escape (20%), or for assault.

NET LOSS GCC: Prior system of taking an inmate's good time for receiving a disciplinary.

EXT YEARS: This shows the amount of good time that has been taken in the amount of years.

EXT MONTHS: This shows the amount of good time that has been taken in the amount of months.

EXT DAYS: This shows the amount of good time that has been taken in the amount of days.

MAXIMUM SENTENCE: This shows the full sentence given to the inmate by the court, in days, months and
years.

MINIMUM SENTENCE: This shows the amount of time that the inmate will have to serve before completion
of the sentence. Good time is taken into account.

CONSECUTIVE TO: This identifies the sentence by county, year, case # and count to which the given
sentence is consecutive to.

Good time is the time that in inmate earns during the course of time he spends while incarcerated, either
for good behavior of for his or her participation in a program. These credits are used to make the inmate's
Release Eligibility Date (RED date) move closer to the present date. The only purpose of this is to ascertain
when an inmate will be eligible to meet the Parole Board. This does, in no way, mean that he will make
parole at that time. It only means that he will be eligible to have his first hearing. In reality, said inmate will
probably not make parole the first time up, so it is not wise to rely solely on the inmate's RED date to
estimate when an inmate will be released. Good time is also used to move the inmate's Sentence Expiration
Date back to meet him. For example,If the inmate's Sentence Expiration Date showing this month is
January 25, 2010, and he receives maximum credits allowed (16) for this month, then his Sentence
Expiration Date will now be January 9, 2010. This is a more accurate way of calculating the inmate's
sentence, rather than relying on the Release Eligibility Date.

Hopefully this section has provided you with a better understanding of classification issues, good time
and assessing the amount of time an inmate will spend incarcerated.